PANEL SEEKS FIXES AT BORDER CROSSING

Funding uncertainty causes concern about plan at San Ysidro port of entry

Around 50 community stakeholders, politicians and concerned citizens gathered Friday at the second annual Border Transportation Forum, aimed at improving safety and transportation for cross-border travelers.

The event was hosted by the seven-member Border Transportation Council. Formed in 1993, the commission promotes legitimate transportation carriers and tries to eliminate “wildcatters” or people who hawk counterfeit bus or trolley tickets, illegally resell passes or provide transportation without a proper license in the border region.

The San Ysidro port of entry is undergoing an extensive expansion that will include a northbound inspection facility, primary vehicle inspection booths, administration space and a pedestrian processing facility. Regional experts discussed parking, the increased number of people expected by the expansion, and the possibility of an intermodal center to create transit connections like the one being built in Anaheim.

Another chief concern discussed at the meeting was the lack of available U.S. funding to finish expansion of the San Ysidro crossing, where 50,000 northbound vehicles and 25,000 northbound pedestrians cross every day. The first phase, with a cost of $292 million, has been funded. But Congress has not approved money for the second and third phases. The entire project is expected to cost $583 million.

“There’s been a lack of results in San Ysidro, certainly, in the last 20 to 30 years,” said Jason Wells, the executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce and a San Ysidro School District trustee. “But I think there can be results because we do have a regional impact and we do have a national impact. We’re not just the little community at the border that likes to get forgotten about.”

Jamie Lai, the transit manager from the city of Anaheim, made a presentation on projects in Orange County cities, and Richard Gomez, the president of the Border Transportation Council, also spoke.